Method of reducing inter-channel biases in glonass gnss receivers

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses methods of accuracy improving for code measurements in GLONASS GNSS receivers. One component of error budget in code measurements of GLONASS receivers is caused by a difference in signal delays arising in the receiver analog Front End and antenna filter on different channel frequencies specific to GLONASS satellites. Methods to compensate for differences in delays for different GLONASS channel frequencies have been proposed using data collected from a GLONASS signals simulator.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a US national phase of PCT/RU2015/000598 filed onSep. 23, 2015.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to GNSS receivers, and moreparticularly, to enhancing accuracy of code measurements based onGLONASS signals with a frequency division of channels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern high-precision GNSS receivers are capable of receiving andprocessing signals from some different satellite systems, at least fromGPS and GLONASS. A well-known peculiarity of GLONASS is frequencydivision multiply access. Each GLONASS satellite transmits a navigationsignal modulated by the same pseudo-random code but it is emitted on itsindividual frequency. These carrier frequencies are usually calledchannel numbers or channel frequencies, and they are currently numberedfrom −07 up to +07. GLONASS satellites transmit signals into twofrequency ranges: upper (L1) and lower (L2). In the L1, the frequency of1602 MHz corresponds to number 00, all the rest carrier frequencies(channel numbers) are divided into j·562.5 kHz, and in the L2 range,frequency 1246 MHz corresponds to 00, other channel numbers are dividedinto j·437.5 kHz, where j is the channel number.

All GLONASS satellites transmit two pseudo-random codes on eachfrequency: a standard accuracy code and a high-precision code.

It should be noted that in the English language technical literature,Standard Accuracy code similar to GPS pseudo-random sequences isdesignated as CA-code, and High-Precision code is designated as P-code.

Both codes are an M-sequence with duration of 1 ms. Clock rate of theCA-code is 511 kHz, and the clock rate of the P-code is 5.11 MHz.According to these values, the bandwidth, concentrating practically thewhole signal power, for the P-signal, is almost 10 times wider than thatof CA-signal. If one considers the whole constellation of GLONASSsatellites, then CA-signals in the L1 range take the bandwidth ≈9 MHz,and the P-signals—≈18 MHz. In the L2 band, CA-signals use ≈8 MHz andP-signals ≈16 MHz.

A navigation receiver consists of analog and digital components. Theanalog component amplifies signals, produces heterodyning (downconversion of carrier frequency), and filters signals, while the digitalcomponent separates a signal envelope (demodulation) and measures signalparameters, including signal arrival time. This time in navigationreceivers means the moment of beginning/ending of PRN-code, whichmodulates the carrier signal of a satellite.

A common analog component is normally used to receive signals from allGLONASS satellites, and signal division from different satellites isimplemented in receiver digital component as a demodulation block.

When passing the receiver antenna filters and the analog front end, thesignal is delayed. The value of the delay depends on the filter'sphase-frequency characteristic (PFC). If the PFC were linear, all thesignals irrespective of carrier frequencies would have the same delay.But in practice, due to non-linearity of the PFC, signals of differentGLONASS satellites have different delays in the receiver.

The receiver digital component measures time of arrival of a signal fromeach satellite. Such measurements are often called code measurements,since they relate to the time of delivering the modulating PRN code. Thecode measurements are also called pseudo-ranges, emphasizing that themeasurements are coordinated to the receiver time scale that isdifferent from the transmitter time scale. As operation of allsatellites is synchronized by the system, one can say that there is anoffset between receiver and GNSS scales.

The difference in code measurements for various satellites (when theposition of satellites is known) enables to solve the navigation taskand determine receiver location. In solving the navigation task, a delayin the radio path, common for all the satellites, affects only theoffset between the receiver time scale and the GNSS time scale. Butdifferent delays for different satellites directly affect positioningaccuracy; therefore, they can be regarded as code errors. Suchdifferences, re-computed into equivalent ranges and expressed in meters,are called “biases” in the English technical literature.

Conventional art and our experience have shown that a difference inreceiving GLONASS signals on various channel frequencies can achieve 3-6ns, which is equivalent to biases (code errors) up to ±1 m-±2 m.

Biases noticeably worsen GLONASS positioning accuracy, and muchattention has been recently paid to methods of reducing these errors.

Reference [6] considers technical solutions enabling to reduce adifference between two different receivers rather than receiver biasesthemselves. The paper stated that such an approach efficiently increasespositioning accuracy in solving the navigation task for differentialnavigation, i.e., in case of positioning a receiver relative to anotherone.

References [1, 4, 7] describe different methods to determine biasesusing different frequencies of the first heterodyne. It is proposed toadjust frequency of the first heterodyne and compare measurement resultsfor different GLONASS channel frequencies. It is noted that the biasesobtained in this manner take into account a difference in signal delaysarising in SAW filter on receiver intermediate frequency. SAW filterparameters strongly depend on temperature, and therefore one needs toregularly carry out such temperature measurements.

References [2, 3, 5] discuss methods of compensating biases inreal-time. To do this, a GLONASS simulator integrated with thenavigation receiver is used. A simulator signal is fed to the input ofthe receiver Front-End. To compensate for biases, references [2, 3]suggest that the difference between generation of the simulation signaland its reception (after it has been delayed in the Front-End) should beused; and in reference [5] it is proposed to measure a differencebetween reception times for different simulation signals.

Below there are considered the three methods of obtaining GLONASS codemeasurements, which providing a considerable reduction in errors causedby receiver PFC non-linearity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Three methods of reducing errors in GLONASS code measurements areproposed. The methods relate to errors caused by a difference in delaysof receiver analog Front End receiving GLONASS signals on differentchannel frequencies. Such a difference on different channel frequenciesis caused by non-linearity of radio path phase-frequency characteristic(PFC). The delay, its frequency dependence and temperature stabilitysubstantially depend both on filters employed in the receiver analogcomponent and digital techniques of obtaining code measurements.

The first of the proposed methods includes measuring and applyingcorrections, which compensate for code biases, taking into account theirtemperature instability.

The second method suggests that code measurements be obtained takinginto account a delay change in the receiver analog block beingcompensated due to changing an operating point of the DLL discriminatorcharacteristic.

The third method proposes the use of high-precision GLONASS signals ascode measurements.

The proposed methods consider a GLONASS simulator, not being an integralcomponent of the receiver, to obtain corrections. Such an approachenables taking into account different delays caused, for example, inantennas located out of the receiver, eliminate effects of thesimulation signal on signal reception from GLONASS GNSS satellites anduse simpler schematics solution in receiver designs.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description that follows, and will be apparent from the description,or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of theinvention will be realized and attained by the structure particularlypointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as theappended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED FIGURES

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1A shows a typical functional schematic of navigation receiver, itsanalog component and Front-End.

FIG. 1B shows a functional schematic of navigation receiver, its analogcomponent and Front-End with a thermometer which is used to compensateinter-channel biases.

FIG. 2 shows envelope curves for navigation signals, a reference codesequence and some variants of reference strobe sequences.

FIG. 3A shows a typical functional schematic of receiver digitalcomponent.

FIG. 3B shows a functional schematic of receiver digital component usinga thermometer to compensate inter-channel biases.

FIG. 4 shows discriminator curves of DLL.

FIGS. 5A, 5B show a dependence of signal delay in the analog componenton GLONASS frequency.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic of a test-bench to determine biases of receiveranalog component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention.

Two main parts can be separated in navigation receivers: antenna and thereceiver itself. Antennas for high-precision navigation receiverstypically include a receiving antenna element, a low-noise amplifier andan antenna filter. The antenna filter is intended for isolating afrequency range for operation with one or some GNSSs.

Modern navigation receivers include mainly analog components and adigital component.

The analog component in turn includes antenna filters and an analogFront End. Generally, these include signal amplifiers, frequencyconverters, a quartz clock generator, intermediate frequencysynthesizers, and some filtration cascades. Three filtration cascadesare most often used: high-frequency, intermediate and low-frequency.

High-frequency filtration is intended for separating signals of aspecific GNSS in the upper and/or lower frequency bands and has mostly awide bandwidth. Such a bandwidth can be up to 60 MHz in the upper bandand 140 MHz in the lower band.

Intermediate filtration should first provide interference immunity ofthe receiver from undesired interference, and, second, secure highaccuracy of code measurements. SAW filters with a bandwidth of 20-30 MHzare often used for intermediate filtration.

Low-frequency filtration suppresses parasitic harmonics which occurduring frequency conversion. The bandwidth of these filters is usually30-50 MHz.

A receiver includes a combination of antenna filters and an analog FrontEnd, determining receiver through common amplitude-frequencycharacteristic (AFC) and phase-frequency characteristic. Common AFC andPFC depend on the predetermined frequency plan, i.e.,frequency-conversion schematics.

FIG. 1A shows an example of typical receiver analog components withdouble frequency conversion. Only those analog elements that relate tothe substance of the invention are shown in this figure.

Signals from satellites are received by an antenna element (100) andafter passing through an antenna filter (110) are fed to a receiveranalog Front End (200) that is in a shielded box. The required frequencyplan is guaranteed by a frequency synthesizer (230) generatingfrequencies F_(LO-1) and F_(LO-2) from frequency F_(q) of a quartzgenerator (220). After a first mixer (230) and intermediate frequencyfilter (250) the signal is transferred to the first intermediatefrequency f_(int-1). After second mixer (260) and low-frequency filter(270) the signal is transferred to the second intermediate frequencyf_(int-2). Different frequencies f_(int-2,j) correspond to differentGLONASS satellites. After the signals passed through the analog FrontEnd, they come into a receiver digital component (300) wherein allnecessary measurements are generated.

Expressions for the common AFC and PFC for the schematics in questioncan be as follows

G _(R)(f)=G ₁(f)+G ₂(f)+G ₃(f−f _(LO 1))+G ₄(f−f _(LO 1) −f _(LO 2))  (1)

Φ_(R)(f)=Φ₁(f)+Φ₂(f)+Φ₃(f−f _(LO-1))+Φ₄(f−f _(LO-1) −f _(LO-2))   (2)

where G_(R)(f) and Φ_(R) (f) are common AFC and PFC for the receiveranalog component, correspondingly;

G₁(f) and Φ₁(f) are the corresponding AFC and PFC of the antenna filter;

G₂(f) and Φ₂(f) are the corresponding AFC and PFC of the Front-Endhigh-frequency filter;

G₃(f) and Φ₃(f) are the corresponding AFC and PFC of the Front-End firstintermediate frequency filter installed at the first intermediatefrequency;

G₄(f) and Φ₄(f) are the corresponding AFC and PFC of the Front-End lowfrequency filter installed at the second intermediate frequency;

f_(LO-1) and f_(LO-2) are the frequencies of the first and secondheterodynes correspondingly, providing the predetermined receiverfrequency plan.

In equations (1) and (2) AFCs of filters should be in dB, and PFCs incycles, frequency in Hz. A signal delay of the receiver analog component(in seconds) can be approximately:

$\begin{matrix}{{\tau^{R}(f)} = {\frac{d}{df}\left\lbrack {\Phi_{R}(f)} \right\rbrack}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

Expression τ^(R)(f) in (3) is called “group delay” and it enables todetermine precisely enough a delay only for narrowband signals, i.e.,when PFC non-linearity is negligible. A more exact calculation of adelay of the modulated signal takes into account the whole signalspectrum. But expression (3) can be useful for further description andunderstanding.

PFC Φ_(R)(f) is typically a non-linear function of frequency f, andhence signals from each GLONASS satellite take different delays τ_(j)^(R)(f_(j)) in the receiver analog component.

Curves A) and B) in FIG. 2 illustrate signal conversion in the analogFront End. Curve A) presents a fragment of the signal envelope at theantenna input, and curve B) shows the corresponding fragment at theanalog component output for a conventional navigation receiver. It canbe seen from the figure that, first, the time instant of changing thecode sign at the output happens later than at the input, and second, ifthe sign of the code sequence changes fast enough at the input, then atthe output the same process takes some time that is often called thefront duration τ^(front).

The most important task of the receiver digital component is to obtainparameters of measurements of the received signal needed for solving thenavigation task and determining a receiver position.

Measuring signal parameters in navigation receivers is described indetail in the technical literature. In particular, in reference [3]there is described a commonly-used method of building high-precisiondigital receivers. A simplified version of the receiver digitalcomponent is shown in FIG. 3A.

An analog signal is converted in the digital form with an analog-digitalconverter (ADC) (301) and is then fed to digital tracking loops PLL andDLL.

Tracking of the input signal phase and frequency is implemented by PLLconsisting of the following main components: complex multiplier (302),carrier NCO (303), correlators (304) and (305), discriminator (310) andloop filter (309).

Omitting PLL structure and operation, one should note that carrier NCO(303) is used for separate processing of GLONASS signals. This NCOgenerates in digital form two quadrature components (sin and cos) of theharmonic oscillation with nominal f_(p,j), corresponding to one of theGLONASS channel frequencies, and a difference between the real satellitesignal and its nominal value in frequency and phase is generated bycontrol signals of the carrier NCO (303) from PLL filter (309). Notethat FIG. 3 presents loops PLL and DLL tracking only one GLONASSsatellites, similar schemes are implemented for other satellites.

A Delay lock loop (DLL) tracks changes in signal arrival times. Mainelements of DLL are a controlled code sequence generator (307) andcontrolled strobe sequence generator (308), two correlators (305) and(306) generating correlation components I and dI, respectively, DLLdiscriminator (311) and DLL loop filter (312). With signals of the loopfilter (312), block (313) generates code measurements ρ_(j).

To receive signals, the code sequence generator (307) generates apseudo-random M-sequence corresponding to the PRN code transmitted byGLONASS satellites. The position in time of this sequence is defined bycontrol signals which are fed from the generator (307) from the DLL loopfilter (312). This sequence is fed to correlator (305), where it ismultiplied by the input in-phase quadrature signal C from the output ofcomplex multiplier (302) and stored over the pre-determined time T_(C)(T_(C) is often selected equal to 5 ms). The so-obtained number iscalled correlation signal I .

The same code sequence from generator (307) is also fed to strobesequence generator (308). The most used and well-known strobe sequenceis a sequence of rectangular pulses, the center of which coincides withsign changes instants in the reference code sequence and the polarity(sign) of the pulse match the sign of the next chip code, i.e., if thecode changes its sign from (−) to (+), the sign of the strobe will bepositive, otherwise (from (+) to (−)—negative. Such strobes andsequences are often called “simple”. A fragment of the simple strobesequence is shown in curve C) of FIG. 2, and in curve D) there is thecorresponding fragment of the reference code sequence.

The strobe sequence generated in block (308) is fed to correlator (306),at the output of which there is generated correlation signal dI.Correlator (306) works in the same way as correlator (305) describedabove. The output signals I and dI of correlators (305) and (306),further come to DLL discriminator (311).

The most known and used discriminator calculates the ratio of these twocorrelation signals, i.e., the generating discriminator signal accordingto

$\begin{matrix}{{z^{dll} = \frac{dI}{I}},} & (4)\end{matrix}$

A signal dependence at the discriminator output z^(dll)(τ) on the timemismatch between the input signal envelope and reference code sequence τis often used DLL discriminator characteristic. See FIG. 2. A typicaldiscriminator characteristic for a “simple” strobe sequence is shown inFIG. 4, graph (a). The discriminator signal, depending on advancing orslowing the reference code sequence relative to the input signalenvelope (τ>0 or τ<0), changes it sign from (+) to (−), or otherwise. Apoint wherein z^(dll)(τ)=0 is hereafter called “working” discriminatorpoint. For the case shown in curves B), C) and D) of FIG. 2, atz^(dll)=0, the instants of sign changes in the reference code sequenceand input signal envelope coincide.

The signal from discriminator (311) is further fed to DLL loop filter(312). There are known different variants of building loop filtersreferences [3, 4], the schematics and parameters of the filtersdetermining DLL noise and dynamic properties. Signals at the output ofthe loop filter are used for controlling the reference generator andcode (307) and strobe (308) sequences. In accordance with these signals,a time position of the code sequence and, respectively, strobe sequencechanges. A closed tracking system (DLL) in the steady operation modekeeps the discriminator signal within a range of the “working” point(z^(dll)≈0) of the DLL discriminator.

Control signals generated by loop filter (312) are simultaneously fed tomeasurements generator (313)—a block of generating code measurements. Inthis block, the current beginning of the reference code sequence istaken as a current estimate of signal arrival time (t^(Rec)) measuredaccording to the receiver clock scale. A satellite emits the signal at atime instant (t^(Tr)) (measured according to the satellite clock scale),and a difference between the signal arrival time and signal emissiontime can be used in calculating the so-called code measurements

ρ=c·(t ^(Rec) −t ^(Tr))   (5)

where c is the speed of light.

A range-difference positioning method is used in GNSS receivers,therefore, only the difference in code measurements obtained fordifferent satellites affects the positioning accuracy. Signal delays fordifferent GLONASS satellites can differ due to non-linearity of PFC inthe receiver analog component, and correspondingly, code measurementsare dependent on this delay resulting in errors in positioning. FIG. 4,graph (b) shows a change in “working” point positions for the DLLdiscriminator characteristic as a function of changing the delay in thereceiver analog component τ^(RF). The position of the reference codesequence in time also changes, and so do the code measurements.

To measure delay in the receiver analog component, a GLONASS simulatorcan be used. The so-called “double differences” allow eliminating aclock offset between satellite and receiver scales, i.e., generating amathematical combination

DD _(j)=[(ρ_(j) ^(Rec)−ρ_(j=0) ^(Rec))−(ρ_(j) ^(SIM)−ρ_(j=0)^(SIM))]  (6)

where ρ_(j) ^(Rec)=c·t_(j) ^(Rec); t_(j) ^(Rec) is the time of signalarrival measured according to the receiver clock scale;

ρ_(j) ^(SIM)=c·t_(j) ^(SIM); t_(j) ^(SIM) is the time of signal arrivalmeasured according to the simulator clock scale, generated by thesimulator for the given receiver location;

j is the satellite number or the channel number;

j=0 means that the measurement has been obtained at a randomly-selectedchannel frequency, for example, at the zero channel number.

If analog delays are different for different GLONASS channel numbers,the value DD_(j) is other than zero. The combination (6) is often calledGLONASS GNSS biases.

An external (relative to the receiver) signal simulator is proposed tobe used to measure analog biases. Such a simulator can be employed,first, for bias measurements in receivers of different marks and units,and second, for determining biases caused by a non-linear PFC of theantenna filter in addition to Front-End biases. To solve the secondtask, an additional filter (110) used in the utilized antenna can beinstalled in the measurement path between the simulator output andFront-End input.

The previously-measured bias DD_(j) can be further used as a correctiondata to compensate for the difference in the analog component delays,thereby leading the measurements to the combined value corresponding toa delay on a chosen channel frequency

ρ_(j) ^(corr)=ρ_(j) −DD _(j)   (7)

To apply the above-described approach, DD_(j) should be unchangeable intime. A change in DD_(j) biases first of all relates to possibletemperature variation during following receiver service.

A maximal temperature operation range for navigation receivers is −40°C. . . . +75° C., sometimes this range is narrower: −20° C. . . . +50°C. Such considerable temperature variations are explained by possibleuse in different climate zones, and seasonal, weather, day and nightchanges in ambient/environmental temperatures. Also, receiver internalheat emission due to different operation modes and design heatproduction features can affect temperature changes.

Below there are considered different variants of possible solutions toproviding temperature stability of corrected code measurements ρ_(j)^(corr).

One embodiment suggests a method of obtaining such corrections thatconsider current temperature of the receiver. In this case, expression(7) is as follows

ρ_(j) ^(corr)=ρ_(j)(T)−DD _(j) ^(T)(T)   (8)

where T is the temperature of the receiver or its components;

DD_(j) ^(T)(T) is the correction data for temperature T;

ρ_(j)(T) is the primary code measurement at temperature T.

A study of the corrections-temperature dependence DD_(j) ^(T)(T) fordifferent receivers has shown that a variation of 25° C.-35° C. intemperature results in a change in the correction data no more than10-15 cm for some GLONASS channel numbers, but for other channel numbersthe change in the correction data reaches 0.8-1.2 m.

Analyzing delay behavior in different filters of the receiver analogFront End has enabled to state that some SAW filter types (250), whichare installed on the first intermediate frequency, mainly contribute tothe temperature dependence of biases for CA signal (FIG. 1). Anoscillation type of delay-temperature variation is specific for thisfilter group. If the temperature varies by 50° C.-70° C., delay valuesare periodically repeated. Biases have the same periodic behavior inthis case.

Research has shown that the bias-temperature dependence is in a goodcorrelation with a function:

DD _(j) ^(T)(T)=DD _(j) ⁰ +DD _(j) ¹·(T−T ₀)+DD _(j) ^(max)·cos(Ω_(j)·T+Ψ _(j))   (9)

where T is the current Front-End temperature;

T₀ is the nominal working Front-End temperature;

DD⁰, DD¹, DD^(nax), Ω, Ψ are the function parameters which are specificfor each channel number j. It should be noted that for some channelnumbers biases are small (do not exceed ±0.1 m), and they arepractically independent of temperature.

Bias periodicity and the possibility of describing biases behaviordepending on temperature allow measuring biases within a temperaturerange of at least 50° C. in increments of maximum 10° C., and thenpredicting a bias value at different temperatures. Well-knowninterpolation methods help in such prediction within the temperaturerange, and extrapolation methods with a predetermined approximationfunction, for example, (9) are helpful out of this range.

To implement this method, temperature shall be measured at the locationof intermediate frequency (IF) SAW filters (250) along with biasmeasurements. The analog Front End (200) is normally shielded, and thetemperature of the analog Front End is higher than the ambienttemperature. The implementation of this method is made by supplementingtypical block-diagrams of the analog and digital components shown inFIG. 1A and FIG. 3A by elements presented in FIG. 1B and FIG. 3B. Atemperature sensor (280) is installed in the shielded analog Front End(200) to measure IF SAW filter temperature. Readings of this sensor in(T⁰C) are fed to the receiver digital component (300). In the receiverdigital component (300) the readings are converted into digital formwith the help of ADC (314), and then processed in the measurementsgenerator (313).

To measure biases, the receiver is placed into a thermal chamber/ovenenabling to fix needed temperature in its volume. A simulatorsequentially or simultaneously generating signals on all operatingGLONASS channel frequencies is connected to the input of the receiveranalog component. Bias estimates are then generated for each channelfrequency based on code measurements and according to equation (6). Atthe same time, the readings from the thermal sensor installed in theshielded analog Front End are stored in memory. Then, the temperature ofthe chamber is changed, and measurements are made again. The temperaturein the chamber is changed at 10° C. increments within an adjusting rangeof at least 50° C. The obtained data set is stored in the receivermemory for further use during receiver service. In addition, based onthe obtained data, the coefficients of the approximation function (9)are calculated and also stored in memory. To compute these coefficients,different mathematical methods can be used, for example, Ordinary LeastSquares method (OLS). A schematic of a test bench to do measurements isshown in FIG. 6.

When a receiver receives GLONASS code measurements, current temperatureis determined for the analog Front End, and a correction is generateddepending on the measured temperature (for each channel frequency).Different interpolation and extrapolation methods can be chosen by theexperienced engineer to compute these corrections. The corrections arefurther used according to (8) to diminish receiver code errors.

Another method to reduce code errors in navigation receivers is based ona considerable difference spectral characteristics of CA and P GLONASSsignals and the specific characteristics of AFC and PFC SAW filter.

As has been previously said, the GLONASS satellites transmit bothstandard accuracy signals (CA) with the clock rate of 511 kHz andhigh-precision signals (P) with the clock rate of 5.11 MHz. ThisP-signal power is distributed in a wider bandwidth and takes about 5.11MHz.

Researching AFC and PFC of SAW filters used in navigation receivers haveshown that group delay (3) has a strong oscillation pattern. An exampleof changing the group delay (expressed in meters) depending on signalfrequency is shown in FIG. 5A by a dotted line. Delays on frequenciescorresponding to GLONASS channel numbers in the L1 band are marked withdiamond symbols in this graph. The graph illustrates well, andresearches prove that for narrow-band signals, depending on frequency, afilter delay varies according to the almost harmonic law with theamplitude of 0.5-0.7 m and period 630-700 kHz.

By applying P-signals with bandwidth ˜5.0 MHz to obtain codemeasurements, one can considerably average delay variations, and thefrequency-delay dependence in the filter reaches a comparativelymonotonic pattern. A graph of such a dependence is presented in FIG. 5Awith a solid line. Triangle symbol show delays corresponding differentGLONASS channel numbers.

A study of temperature stability of corrections measured with the helpof P-signals has shown that a temperature change in the receiver in therange up to 50° C. results in a delay change no greater than ±0.15 m.

To implement this method using the receiver diagram shown in FIG. 1B andFIG. 3B, the code sequence generator (307) has to generate a referencesequence corresponding to high-precision GLONASS signals. These signalsshould be generated by a GLONASS simulator. Computation of correctionsin this case can be made without a thermal chamber at the standardoperation temperature of the receiver, and the corrections may beapplied without a temperature sensor even if the temperature intenselyvaries.

One more method of reducing code errors in case of GLONASS signals isbased on the fact that when a signal passes through a filter its delayis proportional to the duration of the (wave) front, i.e.,τ^(RF)˜τ^(front). As was mentioned, the signal is converted in theanalog Front End, and the sign of the input signal envelope after thefilter changes gradually, curves A) and B) in FIG. 2 illustrates thisfact. It is also known that the slope of the DLL discriminatorcharacteristic

$\frac{d\left( {z^{dll}(\tau)} \right)}{d\; \tau}$

for simple strobe sequences, shown in curve C) in FIG. 2, is inverselyproportional to the front duration τ^(front). Keeping the above in mind,one can write

$\begin{matrix}{\left. \frac{d\left( {z^{dll}(\tau)} \right)}{d\; \tau} \right.\sim\left. \frac{1}{\tau^{front}} \right.\sim\frac{1}{\tau^{RF}}} & (10)\end{matrix}$

FIG. 4, graph (b), in particular, shows that when delay τ^(RF)increases, not only the working point of the discriminatorcharacteristic shifts but also its slope decreases.

Expressions (10) enable to propose two ways of stabilizing the workingdiscriminator point when the delay in the filter changes.

One way is to use a DLL discriminator as follows

$\begin{matrix}{z^{dll} = {\frac{dI}{I} + h}} & (11)\end{matrix}$

Where correlation signal dI is generated with a simple strobe sequenceshown in curve C) of FIG. 2, and the parameter h is selected accordingto the condition below depending on the filters used

$\begin{matrix}{h \cong \frac{\tau^{strobe}}{2 \cdot \tau_{chip}}} & (12)\end{matrix}$

A comparison of FIG. 4, graph (c) and FIG. 4, graph (a) shows that thediscriminator working point can be shifted in δτ by varying parameter h.FIG. 4, graph (d) clearly illustrates the fact that shift δτ depends onboth the parameter h and the slope of the discriminator characteristic

$\frac{d\left( {z^{dll}(\tau)} \right)}{d\; \tau},$

and the sign of shifting is inverse to the sign of the delay changeτ^(RF). FIG. 4, graph (d) also shows that parameter h allows aremarkable reduction in position change of the working discriminatorpoint when filter delay τ^(RF) changes considerably. Therefore, bothtemperature changes in the receiver analog component delay can bereduced and delay differences in PFC non-linearity-related delays of thereceiver analog component on different channel numbers can becompensated.

The other way of obtaining a similar discriminator characteristic is touse strobe sequences of special types. The main feature of thesesequences, unlike those described earlier is strobe position, which isrelated not only to the transition moments (i.e., a change of the codesign) but also to non-transitions. In other words, the position of eachstrobe in the sequence should be related to the PRN chip boundaries. Thenumber of transitions and non-transitions in the GLONASS PRN codediffers by the value of unity/one, correlation signal dI also changes bysome value δ, and value

$h = {\frac{\delta}{I} \cong \frac{\tau^{strobe}}{2 \cdot \tau_{chip}}}$

is added to the signal at the DLL discriminator output. Note that,similar to the previous case, the position of the working discriminatorpoint does not practically change.

An additional possibility of adjusting the compensation degree can beachieved by applying the special sequence of sign-variable strobes. Eachstrobe in this sequence is presented as a sequence of different signelements. An example of such a sequence is given in FIG. 2, curve (E).By selecting the ratio of positive and negative elements in thesign-alternating strobe one can adjust the degree of compensation fordelay changes in the receiver analog component, but a certain conditionis to be met in this case: the area under curve following the strobeshape is to be different from zero, i.e., the number of positive andnegative elements in the strobe is unequal.

An example of the two methods is shown in FIG. 5B. A dependence ofestimates for analog Front End delays is symboled with squares onGLONASS channel numbers in the L1 band. In the graph one can see thatdelays on different channel numbers are changed over than ±0.1 m, buttheir average value noticeably differs from the average obtained otherpreviously-considered methods.

As already stated, in navigation receivers a range-differencepositioning technique is used, the average estimate bias does nottherefore affect positioning errors, and does not regard as measuringerrors.

Researches have shown that the above-mentioned methods allow obtaining adifference between code measurements on different GLONASS channel numberfrequencies no more than ±0.1 m . . . ±0.15 m even if the temperaturevaries in a wide range.

When using this method the code sequence generator (307) can generateboth the standard-precision signal and high-precision signal. The strobesequence generator (308) is to generate a strobe sequence according toone of the mentioned methods. Similar to the previous example, thereceiver can be built in accordance with FIG. 1B and FIG. 3B, andcorrection measurements are performed without a thermal chamber atstandard operation temperature of the receiver. The corrections can beused without a temperature sensor even if the temperature considerablyvaries.

A block-diagram of the test bench enabling an implementation of themethods is shown in FIG. 6.

Simulation satellite signals s are fed from a GLONASS simulator (400) tothe input of an antenna filter (110), and then to the input of thereceiver analog Front End (200). Code measurements ρ are fed from theoutput of the digital component (300) and stored in a computer (500). Inaddition, some digital information about the simulated signal arrivaltime ρ^(SIM)=c·t^(SIM) is transmitted from the simulator (400) tocomputer (500). DD biases for all GLONASS channel number frequencies arecalculated in the computer (500) (see above) and written in the receivermemory to use further for primary code measurement corrections.

For the first method, Front-End temperature data in T⁰C, at which codemeasurements ρ have been made, is additionally transmitted from thedigital component (300) to the computer (500). As said, in this case,all equipment including the antenna filter (110), analog Front End(200), and the receiver digital component (300) are placed into thethermal chamber (600), to obtain a dependence of DD^(T)(T) biases in thecomputer (500). The described-above method allows specialists tounderstand the operation procedure and peculiarities of this test bench.

A developer of navigation receivers can select one or other proposedmethods, their combinations and parameters based on his ownconsiderations and experience depending on the filters used in thereceiver analog Front End and technological features of digitalcomponent design.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment, it should be apparent tothose skilled in the art that certain advantages of the described methodand apparatus have been achieved. It should also be appreciated thatvarious modifications, adaptations, and alternative embodiments thereofmay be made within the scope and spirit of the present invention. Theinvention is further defined by the following claims.

REFERENCES

1. U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,998 B1, Neumann et al., Method for reducinginter-frequency bias effects in a receiver;

2. EP2204664 A2, Yudanov et al., Inter-channel bias calibration fornavigation satellite system;

3. U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,007 B1, Gary R. Lennen, Code group delaycalibration using error free real time calibration signal;

4. EP 1031845 A2, Miroslaw Balodis, Receiver calibration technique forglonass, Leica Geosystems Inc.

5. US 20070008216 A1, Ganguly et al., GPS receiver with calibrator;

6. Algorithms to Calibrate and Compensate for GLONASS Biases in GNSS RTKReceivers working with 3^(rd) party Networks, Aleksey Boriskin, GlebZyryanov, Magellan, Russia, ION GNSS 21^(st). International TechnicalMeeting of the Satellite Division, 16-19, September 2008, Savannah, Ga.

7. GLONASS Receiver Inter-frequency Biases—Calibration Methods andFeasibility, J. B. Neumann, M. Bates, R. S. Harvey Novatel Inc. ION GPS'99, 14-17 September 1999, Nashville, Tenn.

8. A. D. Boriskin, A. V. Veitsel, V. A. Veitsel, M. I. Zhodzishsky, D.S. Milyutin, High precision positioning equipment for global positioningnavigation satellite systems: receivers-end users of navigationinformation, M. I. Zhodzishsky, Ed., Moscow, MAI-Print, 2010

9. GLONASS. Design concepts and operation, A. I. Perov, V. N. Kharisov,Eds., 3^(rd) edition, Moscow, Radiotechnika, 2005.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of reducing inter-channel bias in aGLONASS receiver, the method comprising: for each satellite channel,storing correction data for different temperature in a memory; measuringa current temperature of an analog Front-End of the GLONASS receiver;receiving signals from GLONASS satellites and determining the primarycode measurements for each GLONASS satellite; applying the correctiondata from the memory to the determined primary code measurements tocompensate for temperature-dependent inter-channel biases in the primarycode measurements using the measured current temperature; and outputtingthe corrected primary code measurements.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the memory is a local memory of the GLONASS receiver.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the correction data is downloaded into thememory from an external source.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thememory is located remotely from the GLONASS receiver and the applyingstep is performed remotely from the GLONASS receiver.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising calculating current coordinates based on thecorrected primary code measurements.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising obtaining the correction data for different temperatures ofthe analog Front-End placed in a thermal chamber and using a GLONASSsimulator, and taking into account a delay of the signals from GLONASSsatellites in the analog Front-End and an antenna filter.
 7. The methodof claim 6, wherein a set of temperatures in the thermal chamber isselected such that the temperature varies in increments of up to 10° C.over a range of temperature changes in the analog Front-End of at least50° C.;
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the value of a compensationfor the inter channel biases for the current reading of the thermalsensor is calculated by linear interpolation, if the analog Front-Endtemperature is within the range of temperature changes, and byapproximation functions if the analog Front-End temperature is outsidethe range of temperature changes.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein asum of a constant and harmonic functions parameters of which aredetermined based on measurements of the correction data, are used as theapproximation functions.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprisingoutputting the current temperature and the determined primary codemeasurements.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining theprimary code measurements step is based on a GLONASS standard-precisionsignal.
 12. A GLONASS receiver with reduced inter-channel biascomprising: an antenna receiving signals from GLONASS satellites; ananalog Front-End receiving and processing the signals from the antenna;a digital circuit receiving the processed signals from the analogFront-End; a memory accessible by the digital circuit and storingcorrection data, including correction data corresponding to signal delayin the Front-End and in an antenna filter of the GLONASS receiver fordifferent temperatures for each satellite channel; and a temperaturesensor measuring a current temperature of the analog Front-End of theGLONASS receiver; wherein the digital circuit, using the measuredcurrent temperature, applies the correction data from the memory to thedetermined primary code measurements to compensate fortemperature-dependent inter-channel biases in the primary codemeasurements and outputs corrected primary code measurements.
 13. Amethod of reducing inter-channel bias in a GLONASS receiver, the methodcomprising: generating primary code measurements in the GLONASSreceiver, including using a Delay Lock Loop (DLL) for tracking GLONASSsignals, where a position of a working discriminator point depends ondelays in an analog Front-End of the GLONASS receiver, delays in antennafilters of the GLONASS receiver, and on discriminator characteristicslope; for each satellite channel, applying inter-channel biascorrection data from a memory to the determined primary codemeasurements to compensate for the inter-channel biases in the primarycode measurements; and outputting the corrected primary codemeasurements.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising adding aconstant to the output signal of a discriminator of the DLL.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein: in a reference strobe sequence used toobtain the discriminator characteristic slope, the position of eachstrobe being fixed to the boundaries of each GLONASS PRN code chip; anda sign of each strobe corresponds to a sign of a next PRN code chip;each strobe of the reference sequence includes a sequence of somepositive and some negative elements; and a number of the positiveelements is different from a number of the negative elements, whereinthe sign of each strobe is a sum of the signs of the elements of thestrobe.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein a ratio of the positiveelements and the negative elements in each strobe is 3:1.
 17. The methodof claim 13, wherein the memory is a local memory of the GLONASSreceiver.
 18. The method of claim 13, further comprising calculatingcurrent coordinates based on the corrected primary code measurements.19. The method of claim 13, further comprising obtaining the correctiondata using a GLONASS simulator, and taking into account a delay of thesignals from GLONASS satellites in the analog Front-End and the antennafilters.
 20. A GLONASS receiver with reduced inter-channel bias,comprising: an antenna receiving signals from GLONASS satellites; ananalog Front-End receiving and processing the signals from the antenna;a digital circuit receiving the processed signals from the analogFront-End; a Delay Lock Loop (DLL) for tracking GLONASS signals, where aposition of a working discriminator point depends on delays in an analogFront-End of the GLONASS receiver, delays in antenna filters of theGLONASS receiver, and on discriminator characteristic slope; a memoryaccessible by the digital circuit and storing inter-channel biascorrection data, including data corresponding to signal delay in theanalog Front-End and in the antenna filters for each satellite channel;the digital circuit generating primary code measurements based on anoutput of the DLL and applying the correction data to the generatedprimary code measurements to compensate for the inter-channel biases inthe primary code measurements; and wherein the digital circuit outputsthe corrected primary code measurements.
 21. A method of reducinginter-channel bias in a GLONASS receiver, the method comprising:generating primary code measurements based on high-precision GLONASSsignals; compensating for inter-channel biases in the primary codemeasurements using correction data for each satellite channel previouslystored in a memory of the GLONASS receiver by adding the corrections tothe primary code measurements, and outputting compensated primary codemeasurements; wherein the correction data is obtained using a GLONASSsimulator and takes into account a delay of the high-precision GLONASSsignals in an analog Front-End and antenna filters of the GLONASSreceiver.
 22. A GLONASS receiver with reduced inter-channel bias,comprising: an antenna receiving signals from GLONASS satellites; ananalog Front-End receiving and processing the signals from the antenna;a digital circuit receiving, processing and generating primary codemeasurements based on an output of the analog Front-End; the digitalcircuit applying correction data to the generated primary codemeasurements to compensate for the inter-channel biases in the primarycode measurements, and outputting the corrected primary codemeasurements a memory accessible by the digital circuit and storinginter-channel bias correction data, including data corresponding tosignal delay in the analog Front-End and in the antenna filters for eachsatellite channel.